Corrugated shipping container and the process and materials employed therein



Jan. 4, 1966 J. GUNYOU 3,227,354

CORRUGATED SHIPPING CONTAINER AND THE PROCESS AND MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREIN Filed March 1, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

INVENTOR JOHN GUNYOU AGENT.

J. GUNYOU 3,227,354 CORRUGATED SHIPPING CONTAINER AND THE PROCESS AND Jan. 4, 1966 MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREIN I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 1, 1961 FIG.3

JOHN G'UNYO'U PER! m AGENT.

United States Patent CORRUGATED SHIPPING CONTAINER AND THE PROCESS AND MATERIALS EMPLOYED THEREIN John Gunyou, 46 Grangemill Crescent, Don Mills, Toronto, ()ntario, Canada Filed Mar. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 92,493 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-23) This invention relates to cuboid packages of cuboid containcrs.

An object which may be achieved according to the invention lies in the provision of a package in which the contents are fitted snugly under tension within the container.

.The invention is predicated on the concept of a container construction utilising pieces or blanks of packaging stock shaped to mate with one another to form the constituent container walls; such container being, in this preferred embodiment, generally formed by folding or wrapping said blanks around a suitably assembled stack of articles acting as a former for said container, said blanks being bonded to one another at their coincident edges to complete the container.

When so constructed according to the invention a container will thus be made up of container walls of virtually identical construction with each embodying an equal number of plies of packaging stock. All such walls will be unbroken and regular, at least in the interior of the container, and all joints will be located along the corners or edges of the container.

Some or all of these features enable the contents to be more firmly held in position thus reducing damage to the container from within by shifting of its contents during handlingthe so-called cannon-ball effect. Such features may also enable the container walls to derive strength and support from the articles contained thereby with a consequent gain in criish resistance.

Following from such advantages a lighter, cheaper, more easily handled packaging stock may be utilised in many situations and in fact, it has been found that according to the invention, single-face corrugate packaging stock may, on occasion, serve as well as or better than a conventional container made of the more usual doubleface corrugate; this being particularly noticeable when the able and at the same time easier to work with. However, its use poses certain problems due to the fact that its resistance to axial pressure transversely to its corrugations is substantially less than its resistance to such pressure paralleling its corrugations and it thus becomes important, when making a container of this material, to ensure that the corrugations in the respective container walls will be oriented to anticipate the pressure to which they will be subjected.

For the purposes of this specification the direction of such corrugations giving maximum resistance to such pressures is called the grain of the stock and it will be so referred to in the following description of a preferred form of the invention. A preferred form of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings, in which like reference devices refer to like parts of the invention throughout the various views and diagrams, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a container according to the invention empty end cut away to reveal its construction;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of some of the constituent parts of the container as shown in FIGURE 1, at a stage during their assembly, showing six cuboid cartons ready for enclosure in the container;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a blank of packaging stock prepared for the formation of part of the container shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an isometric view of an alternative container according to the invention empty and cut away to reveal its construction, and

FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of an alternative blank of packaging stock prepared for the formation of part of the container shown in FIGURE 4.

In the basic form of the invention a preferred packaging container C consists essentially of six walls corresponding to top 10, bottom 12, two sides 14A and 14B, and two ends 16A and 16B, the resultant container being obviously rectangular in shape. From FIGURE 2 it will be seen that prior to its assembly a preferred container C involves the use of blanks of packaging stock each of which is shaped and constructed to provide a group of serially interconnected walls of the container C. Thus blank 20, shown in FIGURE 3, is scored along the fold lines 22A and 22B to define three distinct panels 24, 26, and 2 8, which are subsequently folded, during manufacture of the container C into U or channel shape with panels 24 and 28 forming the flanges and panel 26 forming the web of the channel.

Joining flaps 29A and 29B are provided along the free ends of panels 24 and 28 and these may be coated with any suitable adhesive.

Similarly blank 30 is scored along fold lines 32A and 32B to define panels 34, 36 and 38 which are subsequently folded during manufacture into a similar shape, blank 30 being also provided with joining flaps 39A and 39B.

When the container C is in its assembled form blanks 20 and 30 will be folded, as described above, along respective fold lines 22A and 22B and 32A and 32B, into channel shape, with corresponding centre or web panels 26 and 36 confronting one another and providing, for example, top 10 and bottom 12 of container C respectively.

The side or flange panels 24, 28 and 34, 38 will be interlocked with one another providing the sides 14A, 14B and ends 16A, 16B respectively of the container C.

The coincident edges of blanks 20 and 30 will be connected or fastened together as by joining flaps 29A, 29B and 39A, 39B, and by additional sealing tapes 42 if desired.

When so assembled it will be seen that blank 20 pro vides three serially interconnected container walls, for example, side 14A, top 10 and side 1413. Similarly, it will be seen that the other blank 30 will then provide the other three serially interconnected container walls, namely, end 16A, bottom 12 and end 16B.

In order to produce a container C of the desired shape according to the invention, attention must therefore be given to the various dimensions of respective blanks 20 and 30, and of the respective members which they include. In this preferred embodiment for example, it will be seen that the width of blank 30 providing the bottom 12 and two ends 16A, 16B of container C, must correspond to the length of panel 26 of blank 20, which panel 26 in fact provides the top 10 of container C. Conversely the width of blank 24 must correspond to the length of panel 36 of blank 30 which provides the bottom 12 of container C in this case. Furthermore, it will be 33 must be identical in this preferred embodiment.

However, it will be obvious that the invention is not limited to this particular arrangement of parts and, even in this preferred embodiment, it will be seen that, top 10 of container C, for example, can in fact be constituted by any one of the respective panels of either blank 20 or blank 30 merely by varying the shape and/ or dimensions thereof in each case, all as will be apparent from the following description of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Before dealing with such alternative embodiment however attention is directed to the particular characteristics of the single-faced corrugate packaging stock selected for use in this preferred embodiment of the invention. It will be seen that a blank 20 is composed of a single ply of backing paper 44 having a single ply of corrugated paper 46 cemented thereon. Furthermore it will be observed that joining fiaps 29A and 29B are in fact provided by continuations of said backing paper 44 extending beyond or clear of the limits of said corrugated paper 46.

Packaging stock so constructed is very readily obtainable by centering the corrugated paper 46 on the backing paper 44 which is made wide enough to extend beyond each stage of said corrugated paper 46.

Obviously such single-faced corrugate packaging stock exhibits maximum crush resistance along its grains and accordingly when forming a container C out of such stock it is of importance that the container walls which are expected to be snbiected to such crushing forces or stresses should, if possible, be composed of stock whose grain is oriented correspondingly to the anticipated stress requirements of the container C.

Thus it will be seen that the preferred container C shown in FIGURE 1 is designed to offer maximum resistance to pressure on its top 10 or bottom 12, during stacking for example, such resistance being provided by the sides 14A and 14B and ends 16A and 163 whose grain is oriented to provide such maximum resistance.

Conversely however, if container C should be stacked on, for example, side 14A and pressure applied to side 1413 then the crush resistance of container C will be lower in view of the improper orientation of the grain in ends 16A and 16B and in bottom 12.

As an alternative arrangement, it may be found advantageous to replace blank 36 by blank 50 (shown in detail in FIGURE wherein the grain runs the opposite way. The resultant container C1 is shown in FIGURE 4 and will be seen to be comprised of blank 20, already described, from which have been removed the joining flaps 29A and 29B, and blank 50 scored along fold lines 52A, 523, to provide panels 54, 56 and 58, and which is further provided with joining flaps 5?A, 59B extending the full length thereof.

When the container C1 is in its assembled form, blanks 20 and 50 will be folded in the manner described above, along respective fold lines 29A, 29B and 5A, 598, with corresponding centre or web panels 26 and 56 confronting one another and providing, for example, sides 114A, 1148 of container C1 respectively.

The side or flange panels 54-, 58 and 24, 28 will be interlocked with one another providing the ends 116A, 1168 and the top 110 and bottom 112 of the container C1 respectively.

The coincident edges of blanks 20 and 50 will be connected or fastened together as by the joining flaps 59A, 59B, and additional sealing tapes 42 may be added if desired.

The resultant container C1 will be seen to exhibit maximum crush resistance to pressure on either top 110 or bottom 112, provided in this example by panels 24 and 28 of blank 20.

A collateral advantage which is gained by utilising the alternative container C1 of FIGURE 4 arises from the provision of top 110 of container C1 by panel 24 of blank 23, which panel 24 may be hingeable to provide d a preformed and/ or reclosable closure for the container C1.

Additional strength may optionally be added in appropriate circumstances by cementing a reinforcing ply 69 of suitable container material in the desired location. An example of such ply 69 is shown cemented to panel 54 of blank 50 in FIGURE 5 for illustrative purposes.

According to a preferred mode of operations the container C may be formed in the course of a larger packaging operation, in which, blanks 2t and 30 may be cut and scored in the appropriate manner. In the next stage of such operations group or complement of articles A is formed into a stack of suitable proportions and shape, in this case rectangular, and panel 26 of blank 20 is placed with its corrugate ply 46 in contact with the intended top of such stack of articles A. Blank 30 is rotated at de rees to blank 26 and placed with panel 36 thereof in engagement with the bottom of such stack of articles A. Panels 24, 28 and 34, 38 are then folded into engagement with the intended sides and ends respectively of the stack of articles A after which joining flaps 29A, 29B and 39A, 3B may be cemented t'o panels 36 and 26 respectively. Sealing tapes 42 may then be applied to the remaining coincident edges of blanks 20 and 30 to complete the container C.

According to such preferred mode of operations it is possible that the container C of the invention may even be formed under compression in certain cases so as to apply constant and measured pressure to its contents, so long as said contents are compressible. According to this method the shipping container is formed of cuboid containers of cardboard or the like material which are arranged in the form of a cuboid stack with six rectangular sides or panels. A rectangular blank of container stock is prepared to cover three sides of the stack. Another such rectangular blank is prepared to cover the other three sides of the stack. Each blank is placed over the sides for which it is prepared. The blanks are wrapped around the stack while under tension and the blanks are joined together along their coincident edges or peripheral portions, while under tension to hold the stack in compacted condition. Each blank is dimensioned to locate peripheral portions thereof in juxtaposition to peripheral portions of the other blank while they are under tension as aforesaid.

It will now be seen that the invention provides a container C in which the interior surfaces at least, of its walls, are regular and unbroken, there being no joins or overlaps to create weak points and such walls are hence capable of achieving a continuous fit around the articles A which they contain. This in turn is thought to lead to a reduction in the so-called cannon-ball effect caused by shifting of articles within the container C and consequent damage.

Furthermore, when such container C is formed under compression the grip of its contents is enhanced thus achieving a further reduction in cannon-balling, and in point of fact, it has been found in practice that more or less pressure can advantageously be applied to a very wide range of articles in this manner with remarkable success.

At the same time the use of single-face corrugate packaging stock, which is desirable from the viewpoint of automatic packaging operations, being rollable and hence relatively easy to handle, also leads to further advantages.

Thus, the corrugate ply 46, while adding to the rigidity and crush resistance of the container C, also provides a degree of cushioning against shocks and, at least when the corrugate ply 46 is turned inwardly to face the articles A, provides an excellent frictional grip on such articles whereby to still further reduce movement thereof.

However, the fact that single-faced corrugate stock, is the packaging stock of choice in this preferred embodiment does not altogether exclude double-faced corrugate stock, or, in fact, any other equivalent substance capable of being formed as herein provided.

It would not be amiss to reiterate once again that the invention seeks to provide a shipping container such as is indicated by the reference device C in FIG. 1; such container to be used for the packing of goods stacked in the solid rectangular or cuboid form of FIG. 2 presenting the six rectangular facets 24', 26, 28, 34', 36 and 38 which meet and merge with each other at the angular junctures by which they are bounded; said facets being congruent with the respective panels 24, 26, 28, 34, 36 and 38 of blanks 20 and 30 with the edges bounding these panels coinciding with the angular junctures aforesaid.

Container blanks such as 20 and 30 respectively comprising a plurality of panels, being serially aligned, are capable of being tensed around stacked goods of FIG. 2 to form an enclosure for the stack and inducing or preserving compression thereof; the three panels herein visualized being the preferable maximum embodied in any blank for this purpose inasmuch as extra difiiculties were encountered in every attempt made by the present inventor to employ a larger blank;

It will be obvious on reflection and also from study of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in the light of the remarks hereinbefore made that the interconnected panels 24, 28 and 34, 38 form a sleeve which may be said to surround panels 26 and 36; the corrugations on these panels being more or less parallel to their connections. It will also be obvious that the grain of panels 26 and 36 must inevitably be transverse to each other.

Thus, virtually any shipping container constructed in accordance with the present invention ideas as hereinbefore expressed, must inevitably turn out to have a sleeve formed of four interconnected panels which surround the other two panels which, in turn, oppose each other. Moreover, in a shipping container as herein visualized, it is almost inevitable that two panels will be located in confronting relation with their corrugations running transverse to each other and that these two panels will, in turn, be surrounded by a sleeve in which the corrugations are perpendicular to such panels.

It is submitted, in the result, that the scope of the present invention should not be confined in terms to the precise shipping container construction hereinbefore described; the true scope of the invention being contained in the claims now following.

What I claim is:

1. A cuboid package consisting of the combination of a stack of filled cuboid containers under compression on all sides whereby the cuboid containers are compacted, said stack having six rectangular sides,

a first rectangular blank of container stock enclosing three of such six sides,

and a second blank of container stock enclosing the other three sides,

each blank covering its respective sides and retaining the package under compression,

and each blank being dimensioned to locate peripheral portions thereof in juxtaposition to peripheral portions of the other blank while the stack is under compression as aforesaid,

said blanks being joined together at their juxtaposed peripheral portions in tension to retain the package under compression as aforesaid.

2. A cuboid package consisting of the combination of a stack of filled cuboid containers of container stock, said stack being under compression on all sides whereby the cuboid containers are compacted,

a preformed wrapper dimensioned to the size of the final compressed package,

the wrapper comprising two rectangular cardboard pieces or the like each transversely creased to form three rectangular panels so that they will fold into a channel shape and fit together to form a cuboid wrapper,

and each panel being substantially the shape and area of a side of the final package,

and means securing the coincident edges of the wrapper together in tension to retain the package in compressed condition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,941,044 12/1933 Neff 5327 2,540,342 2/ 1951 Moore 22923 2,654,472 10/1953 White 229 X 2,874,889 2/1959 Hale 22923 2,911,774 11/1959 Frank 53-27 2,933,228 4/1960 Guyer 22949 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,211,186 3/1960 France.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

EARLE J. DRUMMOND, THERON E. CONDON,

Examiners. 

1. A CUBOID PACKAGE CONSISTING OF THE COMBINATION OF A STACK OF FILLED CUBOID CONTAINERS UNDER COMPRESSION ON ALL SIDES WHEREBY THE CUBOID CONTAINERS ARE COMPACTED, SAID STACK HAVING SIX RECTANGULAR SIDES, A FIRST RECTANGULAR BLANK OF CONTAINER STOCK ENCLOSING THREE OF SUCH SIX SIDES, AND A SECOND BLANK OF CONTAINERS SIDES ENCLOSING THE OTHER THREE SIDES, EACH BLANK COVERING ITS RESPECTIVE SIDES AND RETAINING THE PACKAGE UNDER COMPRESSION, AND EACH BLANK BEING DIMENSIONED TO LOCATE PERIPHERAL PORTIONS THEREOF IN JUXTAPOSITION TO PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF THE OTHER BLANK WHILE THE STACK IS UNDER COMPRESSION AS A FORESAID, SAID BLANKS BEING JOINED TOGETHER AT THEIR JUXTAPOSED PERIPHERAL PORTIONS IN TENSION TO RETAIN THE PACKAGE UNDER COMPRESSION AS AFORESAID. 